Lewis Co. buried in flood debris 7 months later

Lewis Co. buried in flood debris 7 months later

Lewis County Code Compliance Officer Bill Teitzel inspects an illegal debris pile.

Tools

Story Published: Jul 19, 2008 at 5:46 PM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2008 at 11:25 PM PDT

By Akiko Fujita

Watch the story
LEWIS COUNTY - More than seven months after epic floods devastated the region, piles of trash from damaged homes and farms still fester under the hot summer sun.

County leaders say they don't have the manpower to clean up the huge mess any faster, and the Health Department is worried that the waste could create a toxic mess.

So homeowners are left trying to figure out how to deal with the intractable problem.

One of them is Connie Moore, who has been trying to find help for her mother-in-law. Her home was flooded by four feet of floodwater in December.

"We tried and tried and tried. Finally I just got online and e-mailed churches, as many people as I could think to e-mail," she says. "I finally got some replies back."

One lifesaver has been the Long Term Recovery Organization, which goes yard to yard with trucks to haul wood and rotten waste that's often buried underneath.

"We have one debris field where it looks like a small town," says Sharon Gober, a volunteer with the organization. "There are 100 garbage cans that floated in from areas (and) you just can't get to all of them."

As much as they'd like, the group's volunteers can't take care of the problem by itself.

A few miles away in Adna, Code Compliance Officer Bill Teitzel finds a field of debris. It's an unapproved trash dump in the wrong place.

He says he hasn't seen big changes since December here - and he worries about the health hazards.

"There's things out here that are propane tanks," Teitzel says. "There's probably some containers that are partially full of unknown substances. Who knows what's buried in here."

Tteitzel says the county eventually plans to crack down on homeowners who haven't cleaned up their mess. But he's not ready to do that yet.

With a lack of volunteers and few resources, he knows homeowners are hurting as well.

In the meantime, volunteers and county employees will try and clean up what's left of all this waste in a few months.

Anyone who would like to join in the volunteer effort is invited to call the Long Term Recovery Organization at (360) 740-8323.

Weather & Traffic

Icon
Current Temp 71.0 °F
Partly Cloudy
More Weather

Weather & Traffic

More Weather

On Demand

Resources and info you need to prepare for the switch to DTV.

Stay Connected

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

Marketplace